International broadcast desk.
The moment Meng Lang and Kid completed that earth-shattering, legendary-difficulty B-site retake, the two veteran commentators completely lost their usual composure, their voices overflowing with ultimate shock and amazement!
"Oh——! Dark——! What an unbelievable performance! Incredible! He's like a tornado! A one-man army! He destroyed the entire B-site defense with that AK! That aim! That positioning! It's simply... insane!"
"Not only that! Did you hear that? The callout! While he was making the entry himself, he also pinpointed ZywOo's exact position for m0NESY! This shows he's playing with complete ease! How is he doing it? It's as if he has a sixth sense for this game!"
"This Dark, this rookie from CN, he keeps exceeding all our expectations! Every time you think you've seen his limit, he pulls out something even more astonishing!"
The official channel chat of the international stream was completely flooded with exclamations in every language:
"WOW! JUST WOW!"
"WTF!! How???"
"This guy is auto-aiming!!"
"ZywOo got OUTPLAYED!"
"G2 found a MONSTER! maybe!"
"."
At this moment, on the G2 side of the stage.
"NICEEEE!!! BROOOOO!!!"
The instant Kid's no-scope bullet pierced ZywOo's head and "Counter-Terrorists Win" flashed on screen, Xiao Lizi, Biaoge, and Niko threw their arms up in excitement!
As captain and in-game leader, Xiao Lizi shot to his feet, pointing straight at the Vitality side of the stage, and yelled at the top of his lungs:
"Who is Dark?!"
"THIS! IS! DARK!!!"
He was answering apEX's earlier arrogant provocation in the most direct way possible—liked flexing with your team's "human aimbot," huh?
Like we don't have one too!
After shouting, he sat back down.
Xiao Lizi felt completely refreshed!
It was just that apEX on the opposite side was practically glowing red-hot!
Niko excitedly lifted his headset mic, turned around, and slapped Meng Lang hard on the back, his face flushed with excitement. "Amazing! Bro! You're a monster, you know that?"
This guy,
really could create miracles as long as you gave him an AK!
At the same time, he didn't forget to give Kid a thumbs-up. "Nice, Ilya! Well done! I knew you had it in you!"
m0NESY, who had just landed the final blow, still had his heart racing. Hearing Niko's words immediately set his mind at ease!
For this mentor, a single word of praise was enough to reassure him!
At the same time, he didn't forget Meng Lang's reminder from just now, turning to look at Meng Lang with wide eyes, his tone full of wonder and excitement: "Bro! How did you know he was below?! That's incredible!"
"Hehe! My eyes are X-rays!"
Meng Lang said with a smile.
He didn't explain that sudden intuitive jolt he'd felt!
Although he had only vaguely seen someone on the tall crate forced to reposition by his molotov while flashing away, he hadn't known where they'd moved. Yet the instant Kid dropped down from the dog tunnel, that sudden jolt had allowed him to instantly deduce the player's position!
X-rays?
"Ha! You bastard!"
Kid couldn't help muttering!
Meanwhile,
on the Vitality side.
Losing a gun round that was almost a guaranteed win, especially in such a manner—completely crushed by the opponent's individual skill—
the blow to morale was undeniable!
Coach Zonic saw the situation turning sour and decisively called their first timeout of map three, then frantically broke down the tactics for the next round.
Dupreeh took his hands off the keyboard and leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the gray screen.
He had just been instantly deleted by Meng Lang, who pushed through a molotov with an AK and wide-peeked the fake door on the left side of B tunnel. Right now, he felt slightly physically ill.
This 29-year-old veteran, with four Major championships under his belt and perfect attendance at eighteen Majors!
Back in that invincible Astralis dynasty, he had once been an unstoppable blade himself, the exemplar of countless entry fraggers!
Worthy of being called "a god of the old era."
Yet today, facing that youngster Dark, twelve years his junior, especially against the utterly unreasonable, overwhelming firepower after the kid picked up an AK—
he rarely felt a sense of powerlessness!
Did he accept it?
How could he possibly accept it!
If he truly accepted it, this old sailor wouldn't have chosen to join Vitality to sail once more with ZywOo, the GOAT of the new era.
But did he, in his old age, really still have the strength to conquer this vast, cruel sea?
For a moment, Dupreeh's gaze became somewhat complicated.
apEX, sitting beside him, keenly noticed Dupreeh's abnormality.
While Coach Zonic frantically delivered the tactics, this veteran said nothing, only hung his head, unconsciously rubbing his fingers together, his eyes somewhat hollow.
To put it plainly,
he was shell-shocked!
That wouldn't do!
After Coach Zonic finished laying out the tactics for the next round, apEX knew that what mattered most right now was stabilizing the team's morale.
The French captain clapped his hands hard, his voice still carrying passion. "Hey! Hey! Listen to me, brothers! It's fine! Just one round!"
"Honestly! The way we played last round was fantastic! Yes! Everyone was great! Next time we just need to do a slightly better job of post-plant and it'll be completely OK!"
"Let's go! We have money next round! We are Vitality! We've been through tougher situations! Let's win the next round and hit them back hard!"
apEX's ability to rally the troops was still top-tier!
The team's atmosphere livened up considerably. Dupreeh also let out a soft "Mm," his eyes refocusing as he tightened his grip on the mouse.
This top-tier entry fragger of the old era!
He wanted to charge one more time!
The timeout quickly ended.
In the 6657 stream room, Wan Jiqi's voice rang out once more.
"Dark and Kid can be said to have turned the tide last round! Now G2 has closed the gap to 1-3. Next, let's take a look at the fifth round of the match!"
"This round is also absolutely critical! Whoever loses this won't have money next round! If G2 wants to close the gap, they have to take this round, and for Vitality to get the snowball rolling again, this round is a must-win too."
"Alright, first let's look at the opening setup! This time on CT, Kid didn't go to the B site AWP position at the start! They're running a standard 2-1-2 setup! But Vitality's round after the timeout is a bit unorthodox."
This round, only Magisk went solo toward B at the start. apEX threw a jump-thrown A-long execute smoke from the T spawn, then boosted with ZywOo in the lower tunnel for a while.
ZywOo took a shot.
The attempt didn't connect, but they also gained the info that no one from G2 was pushing mid to contest B1 this round.
At the same time, Misutaaa, who had reached the yellow car outside A long, helped throw two A-long support flashes for default pressure.
Dupreeh pushed into A doors, and after Misutaaa's second flash from the yellow car popped, he swung out for a look and sprayed a full magazine through the A-long execute smoke that apEX had thrown.
Danish core technology online!
Dupreeh's spray actually connected—he tagged Biaoge, who had pushed up A long together with Niko this round, dropping him to half health.
"Oh! Dupreeh's spray control is still on point! Vitality made a lot of noise outside A long early on, but G2 learned their lesson and didn't immediately rotate to A long. Only Kid rotated from mid to A short."
"ZywOo in the lower tunnel has also wrapped around. He and apEX boosted in the tunnel but didn't see anyone. Now they've thrown a full blind smoke for mid doors. It feels like Vitality wants to secure mid control first this round."
Wan Jiqi's read was spot on.
At 1:30, Vitality left Misutaaa alone to watch A doors and prevent a CT push, while ZywOo, Dupreeh, and apEX all pushed forward through mid.
G2 wasn't idle either. Xiao Lizi saw the opponents were taking their time and with the full blind smoke at mid, he directly had Biaoge, who was now on A site, throw a counter-flash for Kid at A short.
He had Kid, AWP in hand, peek A short to grab mid info!
"This flash! If Dupreeh gets blinded, they might lose someone!"
"But wait! Dupreeh masterfully turned his back to dodge the counter-flash. A molotov for short cleared the close A-short angle, forcing Kid to fall back to the A-short deep position."
"Magisk, alone at B, has the info ZywOo got him at the start that B1 is empty, so he only needs to watch B tunnel right now. But Li Shen, the main B-site anchor, has no intention of pushing, so Magisk is still holding from B2. So what's Vitality's plan this round? Still a fake A, real B?"
Wan Jiqi drew out his tone.
However, Vitality wasn't being stubborn. They knew Meng Lang was playing B support and was most likely still at B at this time; there was no reason to bash their heads against a brick wall.
"Clear A short first," apEX said, as he tossed a full-burn molotov onto the A-short deep AWP spot.
Sizzle—!
Flames licked at Kid's feet in the A-short deep AWP position. At the same time, Magisk, the solo B player, came to B1 and helped his teammates throw a long-distance flash to clear A short!
One molotov, one flash!
Kid was forced to jump down from the A-short sniper nest toward CT spawn, conceding control of A short.
At the same time,
as the mid smoke faded, ZywOo's AWP had been holding mid doors toward catwalk. Then apEX picked up a smoke a teammate dropped and popped a full smoke for the B split from CT spawn!
The moment this smoke bloomed!
Pressure on G2's B site instantly skyrocketed!
Meng Lang had originally wanted to rotate,
but now he could only fall back to check the situation from the scaffolding outside the dog tunnel.
Vitality seized the opportunity to press forward from A short in one go. At 1:10, they successfully secured A site control!
Purely beautiful CS!
Wan Jiqi suddenly exclaimed:
"Oh—! Is this Zonic's timeout? Vitality is so methodical this round! The default is rock solid, the utility usage is beautiful! This is truly beautiful CS!"
"But G2 won't just hand over A site control for free either! Niko from A long has already rotated back! Right now they have Biaoge, Xiao Ge, and Niko—three people here. They should be looking for a chance to retake A short!"
"But apEX is still playing it incredibly smart. He didn't rush straight to the A bombsite; instead, he's holding an angle in place, waiting for G2 to pop a flash for a retake!"
"But wait! Kid's AWP is boosting on Biaoge to peek the off-angle again!"
In CS, there's no boost box on A short; you need a teammate to get up there.
In a flash!
The instant Kid got up, he scoped in. At first, the crosshair didn't spot anyone, but he saw a tiny black dot beneath the A-short stairs!
At this moment, apEX also saw the CT who had double-boosted up to the off-angle!
He was about to fall back!
But Kid's crosshair flicked!
Bang!
apEX's screen went black!
He hit the deck!
A kill feed instantly popped up on the top right of the screen!
"G2-m0NESY killed Vitality-apEX with an AWP headshot!"
Wan Jiqi, who had just been praising apEX's intelligence, instantly drew out his tone!
"Oh—! apEX was holding for the retake! But he couldn't hold the angle and got peeked and demolished by the Kid God! Ah, well, in this case you can only say he had a smart brain, but not the smart mechanics to match!"
"The Kid God remembered it all! He's not just the Prince! He also has a nickname—the Yellow Flash! That off-angle flick just now was way too fast!"
"So what's the play now? Only 40 seconds left. Misutaaa outside A doors has come to mid to join the main force. They lost a man! He threw another smoke for the B split from CT spawn! Could Vitality still have a B split in mind this round?"
"Wait! Magisk from B1 is coming over too! This round they're committing to A short! It's about to start!"
Thirty seconds on the clock!
ZywOo threw a full-white flash for A site. Magisk followed with a bombsite molotov. All four Vitality members instantly accelerated onto A short!
Wan Jiqi's speaking pace instantly sped up!
"With apEX dying first, Dupreeh has to entry from the trade position! Kid is still holding!"
"Dupreeh! Can you do it?"
Tap-tap-tap—!
Dupreeh, AK in hand, took a deep breath, pre-aimed the off-angle, and then swung out!
"Dupreeh is going in! What! Pre-firing on the swing? Oh! He found the crucial entry! Tore through Kid's AWP with raw aim! He even completed a horizontal spray transfer to take down Niko rotating from A long!"
"Truly worthy of a four-time Major champion! The cornerstone of the Astralis dynasty! A godlike entry fragger of the old era! This is the dominance of the old-guard riflemen over the mid-generation!"
Hearing Wan Jiqi's words, the chat trolls instantly flooded the screen.
"???"
"The seafood father-son duo is down again!"
"Bro Shrimp: We can mess around, but don't go too far! What's the meaning of you bringing up a four-time Major champion?"
"So what if you have a lot of Major championships? Can you do whatever you want just because you have a lot of Major championships?"
"A Du: That's right! Having a lot of Major championships means you can do whatever you want!"
"."
On the G2 side, Niko's screen went gray. He instantly started breathing heavily and shouted loudly, "Don't go ramp! Fall back to CT spawn first!"
At the same time, the remaining three—Dupreeh, ZywOo, and Misutaaa—unleashed a second wave of utility as they took A site.
CT spawn molotov!
A ramp flash!
Fortunately, Niko's experience allowed him to warn them early. Otherwise, if Biaoge had walked toward A ramp, the flash pop would have been a guaranteed death.
Even so,
G2's situation wasn't optimistic!
With nine seconds left on the clock, Vitality successfully planted the bomb, leaving G2 with a 3v4 retake on A site!
In the 6657 stream room, Wan Jiqi couldn't help but say:
"Although A site is relatively easier to retake than B site, Vitality planted default on A! Everyone is now spread out holding angles. G2 is at a numbers disadvantage; this retake is still incredibly difficult."
"Nothing you can do. You can only say Vitality's T-side default this round was executed perfectly, and their utility management was flawless too!"
"Of course! The most crucial factor was still Dupreeh! After apEX fell in the first position, he delivered a perfect entry! This is what veterans bring to the table! This is the weight of a veteran! This is the foundation of a veteran!"
"ZywOo is the sail! But Vitality's ship still needs you, the old captain of the old era! Dupreeh—!"
The stream chat instantly exploded!
"???"
"Wan Jiqi's thing for older guys is acting up again?"
"Yi Bo, Auntie originally swore she would never fall for another man after separating from your uncle all these years. Hearing that you have a thing for older guys, Auntie wants to go crazy one more time!"
"Objectively speaking, Dupreeh manually tearing apart Kid's AWP this round is kinda terrifying! He really channeled his peak form!"
"."